Intoxicating Murmurs
by Ein Kampf kann eine Lebenszeit
Summary: Edward watches Bella sleep after a long day with the family, and he's the one who gets intoxicated this time. Pre-Breaking Dawn. Bella and Edward FLUFF! One shot, please read and review. Rated "T" to be safe.


**Okay, so please review. I would love you for forever... :D  
**

"Alice, he broke _another_ one!" Bella complained. I was happy I wasn't partaking in this event. Jasper was on the drums – he was exceptionally good, and he refused to play a guitar – Rosalie on guitar, and Bella on bass. Emmett had the microphone. And my family was playing Rock Band. They were on their ninth consecutive hour.

Emmett had broken five microphones so far. He hit the top too hard whenever he was instructed to do so. He just got too involved in the songs. Especially "Inside The Fire" by Disturbed.

"I didn't mean to. They really should make these things more durable," he said, throwing the broken one and picking up another one and plugging it in. I had no patience for this game, but if Bella liked it, I would survive.

"Emmett, they don't intend for vampires to play this. Just take it easy for now," Bella said. She and Emmett had been bickering about the delay of the game due to his breaking all the microphones.

While they had had this little conversation, Jasper had chosen "Juke Box Hero," by Foreigner, and had already chosen his expert level. He was and Rose were now waiting for everyone else. As usual.

"This one again?" Bella asked. She had already beaten the hard level on the bass, and refused to move on to expert. I couldn't even convince her that she would do wonderfully on expert. And, being Bella, when she said she wouldn't do something, she stuck to that.

Nine hours of this. Nine. I had heard every song. Some they butchered just for their own entertainment, and I had to remind them that this game was in existence so they could beat it for their entertainment, but they enjoyed butchering the songs better. I looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. That made ten hours. And Bella was neither bored nor tired. No one – not like anyone except myself was trying – could get her to go to bed. Not even Esme, though she tried, at my constant begging. They finished the song, and I went over to Bella, who had missed half the notes. She usually did much better.

"Bella, dear, you should get some sleep. You can always continue this tomorrow. It won't go away," I said, trying once more to get her to sleep. She flipped through the songs, looking for one she wanted to play.

"Edward, I am fine," she said, following the statement with a yawn. I rolled my eyes, and removed the guitar from her shoulder, took her up in my arms, and carried her upstairs.

"Carlisle, you wanna play bass?" Emmett called out. Alice and I weren't allowed to play, because we would have 'an unfair advantage.' She was on the couch sitting next to Jasper, and I was taking Bella to my room, obviously. I walked past Carlisle on the stairs, and we only nodded in greeting. Bella was half asleep, and very unaware of her surroundings. I got to my room and laid her on the bed. I crawled in after her, tracing her arm with my hand. A small smile played on her lips.

"Edward," she said sleepily. She was already asleep. And she said she wasn't tired. I chuckled lightly. I heard a soft tap on the door.

"Come in Alice," I said, not taking my eyes off Bella. Alice was on the bed almost instantly, looking at Bella as well.

"Have you ever heard Carlisle on bass?" she asked lowly. I had to stop myself from laughing.

"Yes, I have. I block it out almost every time. One would think that he would be very good," I replied. I looked at Alice, who returned the look. "But that's not why you're here," I said. I was trying not to read her thoughts, but a few things leaked through.

"It's nothing bad. I just wanted to talk. Jasper's too involved in the drums to listen to me, apparently," she said, more loudly so he could hear. He wouldn't stop playing, but he knew he would get a good chewing out from Alice later. The things he was willing to put up with…

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked her, my hand resting just below Bella's elbow.

"How do you do it?" she asked. Ever so tactful.

"I just can't bear the thought of hurting her. It would be horrible, I don't think I could do it even if it would help her," I replied. I didn't know what else to say. I wouldn't be able to live, that much had already been proven.

"That's it?" she asked. I don't know how many times we had had this conversation, but it had been quite a few times. I nodded my head slowly. "Well, that's interesting," she mumbled to herself.

My gaze had returned to Bella. I noticed how her hair seemed to frame her face, how her eyes were closed easily, no force behind it, how her mouth was only parted slightly, the even rising and falling of her chest as she inhaled and exhaled. I savored how her hand rested on my chest lightly, almost as if it weren't there, how her leg draped over mine.

I heard Alice leave quietly. She must have seen that she could have talked for hours and I wouldn't have heard a single word. That's how it was when I watched Bella sleep. Her skin glowed lightly in the light of the moon, and her involuntary mutterings were the closest thing I had to reading her mind. Mostly she just said my name over and over. I didn't have an ego, but I loved it when she said my name. The love and adoration in her voice was unmistakable. Whenever she made the slightest movement, her hair would move with her face, never taking the perfect frame away.

My hand drifted to the one she had rested on my chest, and curled around it. I brought it up to my lips and kissed it softly. I started at her finger tips, and kissed up to her wrist, continuing to the underside of her forearm, lingering on the crease at the elbow. Her skin was so warm and soft. I continued to kiss my way up her arm, and stopped at her neck.

I moved to her forehead, and I lightly kissed both of her eyes, the tip of her nose, each of her cheeks… She was intoxicating. What a pair; intoxicating and dazzling. How did we both survive?

Her hand was resting on my chest again, her fingers clenching into a fist occasionally.

"But what if you don't come back?" she asked, sleepily. She sounded frightened, and worried.

"I'll always come back, Bella," I whispered. I kissed her forehead and continued watching her sleep.

**Sickly sweet ending... I think. I'm not a Bella/Edward fan, obviously, but someone seems to think I write them very well. But she loves all my writing, and I love her for it! She's amazing. And gives a good conversation at like, midnight. :D Anyway, review, because you know you want to.**

**Oh, and yes, today I played Rock Band for six hours straight, I sung the entire time.. Twas fun, twas fun. **


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